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In jest I have thought the same thing, in fact today in Gospel Doctrine when the teacher was woefully unprepared and lacking of knowledge in teaching the Creation. This was the first time I have attended GD in over a year and I think the primary class I was teaching could have provided a more meaningful, profound and insightful discussion. But in speaking with each of these people about this to some extent it appears most evident that there is a structure or religious tenet that doesn't actually impede their personal spirituality but rather a stricture of sorts that they cannot fully comply with, i.e. tithing, WOW, LOC, etc. Obscure and problematic doctrines often coupled with the flaws and faults of the Church and its leaders whose errors are amplified to levels of extremity become an easy out. I realized I am generalizing and being presumptive here, but a few have actually admitted to me as such. And in a few instances these individuals have seperated themselves from the Church because of hardship and no longer acknowledging God or a Redeemer, though I think ultimately they still do believe but find it easier to choose to say they don't than reconcile everything bad that has everything happened to them with the loving and benevolent Father in Heaven they have always believed in or taught exists. My point is, I guess I do not understand how a structured religion (any, not just Mormonism) actually impedes personal spiritual devlopment. I have never, in my own experience, felt that the Church was restrictive in this. I was never taught to lean on the testimonies of others. I have never felt that I couldn't receive my own personal witness to what I have been taught, or to even disagree with what I have been taught. Instead, I was brought up to learn out of the very best books and develop a personal relationship with God. Any counsel I have received or even the worst SS lessons I have endured have all aided and abetted my personal growth by giving me a chance to share with others that which I have learned through my own personal development. The commandments and covenants I have made are simply controls that provide guidance and oft times protection in my pursuit for truth and knowledge, not walls. |
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This didn't become fully evident to me until I had children. Let's face it folks, whom among us wants to cede the Gospel instruction of our children to Primary or YM/YW instructors? Let me do that, and they can supplement. That way I can root out all the false and faulty doctrine and practice. |
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My Responses:
Adam and Eve: 5 -nice etiology, but factually incorrect in many ways, mostly due to its reliance on ancient views about the cosmos (eg the firmament).
Cain and Abel: 6 -Another etiology, to explain the origin of the Kenites. Noah and the Ark: 6 -I don't see how anyone can think this really happened. Probably etiological. Lot's wife: 5 Plagues: 6 Red Sea: 4, maybe 5. Jericho: 6 Jonah: 5 Job: 4 mainly because it is one of my favorite books along with Ecclesiastes both examples of "Skeptical wisdom" literature Daniel: 5 |
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I agree 100% that Job is one of the finest parts of the the OT, even in the Western Canon. |
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As for the Red Sea incident, I think this may reflect a legitimate tradition based on much less dramatic events in the life of a small group of settlers from Egypt. In other words, it didn't happen just like the Bible account, but is based in a highly amplified historical kernel. These are my opinions, based on how I feel the evidence makes the most sense to me. CHC. |
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You don't have to do that... I'm not a Hebrew Bible expert by any means, though I have taught it some. My main focus as a scholar is on the New Testament and Early Jewish History, which really tends not to include the earliest Hebrew Literary traditions. My knowledge in that area is fairly surface-level. There are plenty of scholarly opinions that would accord with your point of view as well.
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